Bindings
by purushi
Summary: A knight with an untangible ambition, a priestess who has a wound she can't heal, and an assasin who wishes to avenge a loss. They all embark on a journey finding adventure, and love along the way...R
1. The Journey Begins

**Author's Note:** yea... recent Ragnarok obsessions have led me to thus. I've had this idea ever since I started playing, I was even thinking about making this plot into a fan manga... soo if I get enough reviews I plan to do so.. let me know what you think.

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**Chapter One...**

"Thanks captain, for everything!"

A toffee-topped youth waved goodbye to his mentor from his perch atop a Peco Peco. His hair framing a carefree expression. He turned his squawking steed (?) and galloped out the city of Prontera. It was hard to imagine that he had come here not a week ago a mere swordsman, and today he left...

'_a knight...'_

He closed his sapphire eyes and savored the succulent thought, and wrecklessly did not recognize the route he took.

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"**_Turn Undead!"_**

A priestess bellowed the incantation on her vicious Orc foe. She panted, she scarcely had enough energy to stand.

'_I just became a priestess and I can barely handle it!'_

"Heal me!" demanded a member of her party, her voice barely audible under the clanging of metal against metal.

Reluctantly, the priestess summoned what remained of her powers and granted the command with difficulty.

"Heal me!" "Heal me!" "Heal me!" 3 voices exclaimed in the same urgency.

"I'm out of energy..." she exasperated meekly, panting as she clung to the cave wall.

"Heal... _NOW_!" this time 4 people demanded her abilities.

Summoning every last ounce of energy she granted their commands.

Sweating profusely, and clinging to the cave's wall to support her she couldn't have more than enough energy to stand, and just her luck an orc was heading her way.

She panted in utmost nausea, she could feel the orc's hot sticky breath mist onto her body, its foul stench clinging to the air, and she could feel its hunger and lust for bloodshed.

The oaf-like demon raised its iron hammer...

She couldn't do anything, the other people in the party were too occupied, she cringed against the wall and prepared for impact.

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"Ouch!" the daydreaming knight ran into a low branch of a tree atop the peco peco.

He rubbed his sore forehead, and suddenly found himself staring at the entrance of the Orc dungeon.

"I remember this place..." he gave a disappointed frown.

_::flashback::_

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" the toffee haired swordsman fell to the floor unconscious.

And hour later he awoke with a start. Grabbing the person next to him.

"It was horrible in there... or-orcs.. ev-every- wh-where! I was surrounded!" the injured swordsman exclaimed.

"Umm.. you were beaten by a Farmiliar..."

_::end of flashback::_

"Well I'm a knight now!" he boasted to his steed who only squawked blankly at him.

He dismounted the peco and tied it to a nearby tree and ran into the cave to find a party defeating a gang of orcs at the entrance, a figure shrinking against a wall underneath the blow of an orc.

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"**_Pierce!"_** a voice ricocheted off the cave walls.

The priestess peered a single eye open.

A knight had parried the orc's attack successfully. He grinned and turned to the priestess.

"Are you al-"he took a powerful blow to the head.

The priestess took the distraction to her advantage ...

"**_Turn Undead!"_**

The orc fellt to the floor with a crash. The priestess immediately flocked to her "rescuer's" side and healed him quickly.

His eyelids fluttered open revealing a drunken look from his misty blue eyes.

"...eh?" he grunted, mumbling in confusion.

The priestess warped them outside to Geffen Field.

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"Are you alright?" she inquired weakly, as she helped the knight to sit upright.

"Y-Yea.." he replied dizzily, "OF course! You're looking at the best knight in all of Prontera!" he boasted regaining his bruised morale.

The priestess smiled a small innocent smile. The knight took this time to notice her features. She had cream colored hair, a color he had never seen before that hung loosely in a bun at the nape of her neck. Strands of hair framed her pale complexion. But what was most captivating were her eyes, a deep rich chocolate brown, a pigment lighter than black.

"May I ask who my rescuer is?" she smiled politely.

Snapping out of his reverie, he stood at his full height, he had obviously regained his confidence as a knight.

"I'm Daisuke! Best knight of all Prontera!" he broadcasted to the priestess who still knelt on the floor politely clapping. "But you can call me Dai!" he winked, the priestess stared blankly at him.

"And who may you be?" he asked her bending down to meet face to face.

She smiled another smile.

"I am.."

"_HIKARI!!!!!"_ an angry huntress came at a fast pace to the two of them, followed by 4 others.

"Where have you been Hikari!" the huntress demanded as a falcon perched on her shoulder.

"Sorry ma'am, I just had to help someone.." she answered meekly.

"Hikari, I've had enough of it! Every time you see someone getting hurt you have to help them! Don't you remember we're a party! We get priority, that was your last chance Hikari, I'm fed up with you trailing off all the time! I'm sorry but you're no longer part of this party!" the huntress fumed.

The huntress pivoted in her step, and led the party back to the dungeons.

Daisuke turned to the priestess in concern.

She hung her head in shame letting soft strands of cream hair shield her face.

"I'm sorry you had to see that.." she muttered softly.

Seeing her depression, the knight smiled and plopped down next to her.

"Who needs them anyways!" he exclaimed loudly, causing the priestess to raise her head gently.

"You mi'lady" he pointed at her with his finger, "get to accompany me!"

He grinned broadly scratching the back of his head in a boyish fashion.

The priestess couldn't help but smile at the comment.

"Sooooooo.. "he trailed. "You're name is Hikari, is it? A loooooooovely name.. for a loooooovely lady!" he exclaimed standing up, trying to brighten up the mood.

She smiled.

"and a lovely smile to boot!" he tilted her chin up.

Suddenly her smile turned to a frown of deep trouble.

He gazed confused, " what's the matter?" he tilted his head in inquiry.

"Orcs are coming.." she uttered.

No sooner did she say it, a swarm of orcs came crawling out of the dungeon, surrounding them in an instant.

Daisuke drew his sword bravely.

"HAH! Like to see you try and knock me out again!" he began slashing violently.

'_This is easy!_' he exclaimed to himself. _'I'm fast and I feel great!'_

The priestess was muttering a string of supportive spells nonstop.

She winced loudly after taking a blow to the stomach.

Daiskue swiveled around, to see her being harmed.

"Hikari!" he yelled in frustration towards the priestess.

He couldn't make his way to her through the thickening crowd of orcs. He could barely keep up, meaning Hikari...

Then a mysterious voice whispered into his ear.

"_I'll take care of her, meet me in Payon."_

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Hikari was weezing she couldn't take anymore hits... and she was too slow to cast a spell to help her or Daisuke.

She summoned all the remaining energy she could..

"_**Heal!"**_

A green glowing light enveloped Daisuke in the middle of the mob next to her.

She had just enough energy to stand. An orc hit her when she was off guard sending her crumbling to the floor.

"Hikari!" she could hear Daisuke's muffled voice through the dense mob.

She fell to her knees in exhaustion. The orcs all raised their hammers in attack.

She looked up in horror. But as before, the blows never came.

Instead, she felt strong arms enclose around her waist and felt her self next to a tree within seconds.

'_Amazing agility...'_

She than felt herself pinned to a tree underneath a large frame, protecting her.

A swarm of orcs ran by. Not even noticing the priestess.

'_the ability to hide...'_

A single orc began sniffing the air and strayed from the mob that passed by galloping towards her and her mysterious protector.

In a flash of steel the giant beast lay slain on the floor.

'_the born ability to kill...'_

Her protector turned around towards her and faced the awestricken priestess. The cold glare of his eyes, the bleak aura, and fumes of blood-soaken steel ...

'_an assassin.'_

to be continued in chap 2!

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**Authors Note:** How do yea like it.. Ok 2 reviews and I'll update.. or I might just do it anyways since I'm in a writing spurt... but I would really appreciate the reviews! =)


	2. A Friendly Stranger

**Author's Note:** haha my first review pointed something out that I kind of forgot... you don't have SP or HP in real life... and yelling out "HIDING!" before you hide isn't very effective... this next chapter will hopefully use the advice given to me to my advantage.. thank you for reviewing! **Tom Valor**, **JaN::RaGaLINiTe**, and **Ashes Kittyhawk**!!!

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**Chapter 2**

"Y-you're.. an..." she stood shakily, mingling with confusion and awe.

The man averted an eerie crimson eye to glance at his side...

Swiftly, he pressed a bandaged finger to the girl's lips and pushed her up against a trunk of the tree, shielding her again with his body.

She did not see his lips move beneath the mask, the hushed whisper of his voice seemed to come from the wind itself.

"_Teleport us to Payon. Quickly."_

Retrieving a blue gemstone from her pocket, she held it fast to her heart and began casting the warp portal...

In a blinding flash the duo felt themselves ripped from their current location, whirring through a white gap in space.

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With a final pierce from his sword, his final orc foe lay dead.

The knight's sword swung loosely to his side. He used his gloved hand to mop his sweating brow.

"Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwff!" he exhaled a long sigh before unceremoniously landing on his rump next to his observing steed.

Daisuke opened his eyes, looking to his steed.

"You could've helped a little ya know... pecked some of their eyes out or somethin', you coulda' even crapped on 'em if ya liked..."

The peco shook its feathery head in incomprehension, or pure ignorance.

"Fine, be that way." The brown haired knight stood up and mounted his steed. "But whether _you_ like it or not.. we got some rescuin' to do.."

And the noble, or .. semi-noble, knight coaxed his steed toward the direction of Payon.

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A head speared the calm surface of a blue lake causing ripples to spill out in every direction from the disturbance.

The figure made his way to the land, sopping wet dragging an unconscious body with him.

'_This is as close as she can get? Damn. Why do I have to be such a sucker for a novice.'_

His arms stood on either side of the Priestess' head and his body cast a shadow over hers, dripping water onto her tiny frame that was revealed as her soaking clothes clung innocently to her body.

The priestess lay unconscious.

The assassin sighed a weary sigh, but nonetheless slid one arm under her back and another under her knees, and in a moment flashed away in a blur toward Payon Caves.

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A while later, a pair of chocolate eyes fluttered open to observe her mysterious surroundings.

Hikari hand found herself in a dripping cave, and in the corner was a warm glow emanating from a fire that had been made. The fire's creator crouched next to the flame bandaging an arm with some worn linen.

She stood unsteadily to her feet and grasped her side. The click of each footstep ricocheting off of the walls.

The assassin was fully aware of her presence, and continued to make nothing of it, continuing to bandage his wounded arm, when a soft hand gently touched his own, he froze.

"Let me help you.." She sidled the worn linen from his fingers and slid them into her own hands and began quickly repairing the damage on his arm.

"I haven't re-ga-gained all my e-energy yet but when I-I do I-I can heal you." She forcibly offered.

'_Since when have I ever been so kind to an assassin, a murderer? Is this to clear my conscience? I wonder if Sir Daisuke is alright.'_

A bandaged hand cupped her chin and brought it to its owners face, yanking her from her train of thought. She stared into his eyes, her body rigid from fear.

He had soft tendrils of silver hair which shielded his right eye if by extinct. His eyes were a crimson red the shade of blood, and he bore that eye into Hikari, leaving her at the utmost disadvantage.

"Your eyes," he whispered barely audible. "they say everything..."

She held her breath.

'_He's going to kill me now!'_

Her mind raced in terror.

"Don't worry..." he muttered. "I won't hurt you."

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**Author's Note:** Haha... any reviewers left? Sorry I had to be gone for two weeks... but I'm back! So please come back too. 3 reviews and ill update. .Tell me what you think!


	3. The Kaonishi

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews =D... I'm back with another chapter and I've learned so much from u guys already! Again! Ha-ha special thanks to my reviewers...

**Ashes Kittyhawk, Zhang Kai, white tiger race, lhoughin, timo, Kisaki-eri90**, and **Tom Valor!**

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**Chapter Three**

She jerked her head quickly to the side...

'_Those eyes... ripping into my soul.'_

She blushed in embarrassment a foreign red hue creeping across her soft cheeks.

'_He feels so familiar, like something out of a dream.'_

"What's your name?" he grunted feeding the blazing fire, and gazing ominously into the flame.

"Hi-Hikari." She stuttered, her name sounding weak as it hung in the air.

"Hikari..." the assassin repeated to himself, an icy glaze covered his eyes in remembrance.

"Where are you from?" he inquired, lips unmoving beneath the black sash over his mouth.

"Prontera... I live in the cathedral." The words started sliding out of her mouth, relentless of the fact she was giving her information to an assassin.

"You have family?" he turned his eyes away from the flame and stared at her.

She turned to avoid his gaze.

"I don't know..."

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"Have you seen a priestess around here?" the knight asked exasperatedly.

The victim was a poor merchant.

"You already asked me, NO! I haven't Payon is seldom home to priests of any kind."

Daisuke turned his peco from the merchant and began cruising the streets of Payon, passing the pagoda topped buildings mingling with the hum of busy merchants and customers.

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"What do you mean?" his gaze turned curiously onto her.

"I truly don't remember..." she confided, then brought her hand to her lips as if to verify her confession to this stranger.

She sensed the confusion increasing in his mind.

"I remember as much as being found on a street after a guild had attacked the people in Prontera..."

The assasins eyes turned sharply towards her.

'_a guild attack in Prontera...'_

She stared at her hands that were folded in her lap for comfort.

"Blood, staining the streets..."

The assassin sat silently listening to her recollection of the gruesome tale.

"I could only recall the name of the guild..."

The assassin gazed at her with utmost anticipation.

"_the Kaonishi..."_ she muttered finding hidden courage to stare straight into his eyes.

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**Author's Note:** I hope you liked it, you find out a little bit about the plot of the story here and about Hikari's past. Please keep reviewing, and I'll be happy to update.

**Kaonishi** – If you're a member of this guild.. I don't mean to say you kill people, but u guys have a cool name so ha-ha yea.


	4. Secrets Revealed

**Author's Note:** Thank you my reviewers for staying with me thus far, I again owe all my inspiration to keep writing, to you all. Now, the fourth chapter.

Chapter Four

The troubled knight briskly brushed away the soft brown tendrils that clouded his vision, and heaved a sigh of defeat.

"How far could an assassin and a priestess go in one town?"

The peco clucked at its rider with dismay, as if reading his mind and pointing out a flaw.

"wait... an assassin, in a town..."

The peco stared at the pondering knight in an impatient aire.

"come on buddy, I think I know where they are," he replied and set off in the direction of the Payon Caves.

Daisuke cautiously tiptoed into the mouth of a dripping cave, he had tied his steed to a tree nearby, and continued to proceed alone.

On his way he encountered a few farniliar but other than that, it was a rather quiet descent.

He could here the cackling of a flame nearby, he was about to turn the corner to greet the priestess when heard a word that made him freeze.

The silence clung to the air, its only disturbance was the sweat of the cave walls as it dripped drearily, lingering with each ricocheted sound.

"Kaonishi..." the assassin repeated in a glazed remembrance.

Surprised by her own boldness, Hikari quickly shifted her gaze.

"Yes." She fingered the rosary she had kept in often times of stress.

"From what I have heard, each survivor from their raids are marked with a gift is this not true?"

She rolled the beads of the rosary between her fingers gently marveling at their smooth shape.

"I'm surprised that's what they refer it to as.." she chuckled lightly in false consolation, "a **_gift._** If that's what it truly was."

The assassin continued to stare ominously into the lingering flame.

The embers of the flame were nostalgic, as she also stared into the flames blurring in a nauseating haze.

"You weren't the only survivor though, were you?" the question was almost rhetorical, obviously the assassin wasn't very curious of what he actually stated.

"No, there were others, I'm not sure but they could not have been many more, maybe 2 or 3."

Silence once again trembled in the air, a rustling of clothing was heard.

The assassin peered a curious eye towards the priestess, she had unbuttoned the collar of her dress to reveal her left shoulder, which was stained in dark black ink. The mark was intricate and ancient creeping all over her shoulder in inky trails, against her pure ivory skin.

"They were not exaggerating when they referred to it as a mark." She chuckled lightly, filling her face with a gentle smile.

He gazed at the mark with well-disguised fascination.

"You are wondering what my gift is are you not?" She questioned the unasked question.

The assassin paused, than tilted his head in a slight nod, never taking his eyes off the suddenly talkative priestess.

She fingered the sharp edge of the cross on her rosary, and brought it out from her pocket and held it gently in her right hand.

The assassin stared questioningly at the charm.

She took the sharp edge and slit a deep cut into her left wrist.

The assassin continued to stare, as if she had done nothing out of the ordinary.

Instead of blood, a sparkling white aloe-like substance began dripping onto the floor.

Alluring fumes filled the air.

The assassin closed his eyes in intense concentration.

' _this scent, the color, the texture... it's, but it can't be.'_

He lifted his eyelids and stared at the spot where the white substance had dripped on the floor, and a leaf began sprouting from the hardened soil.

It was photosynthesis in fast motion. Watching the plant bud and grow within the span of seconds. It's leaves glistening from a hidden sun.

"Yggdrasil?" He stated bluntly, "the key to resurrection and everlasting life."

She smiled gently, nodded, and turned to look at him.

"You know it?" she inquired gently, re-buttoning the neck of her dress.

"Yes, it's been used on me once." He stated.

The priestess froze.

'_Could there be someone else like me?'_

"It was made by an alchemist who had been making it for 50 years, not from a Kaonishi survivor, if that is what you're wondering about." He spoke, diminishing her hopes of finding someone like her.

She smiled gently again.

"So I see..." She trailed.

'_The Kaonishi...'_

He gritted his teeth in anger, from the mentioning of the name.

_::flashback::_

A boy of 10 backed up against the corner of his home, cowering under the leering shadows of two hooded men.

"shall I do it, or do you want to?" an eerie voice retorted from one of the hooded men.

"wait," the other blocked his partner with his arm. He crouched low to the boy and removed his hood unveiling a face with dangerous gray eyes, framed by red hair.

"Join us, boy, and we will spare your life." He muttered to the crouching figure.

"n-no!" the boy sobbed in frustration. He glared menacingly back at the stranger.

"I am going to be the best knight of all Prontera, I'd rather die than join you!" he yelled in anguish.

The red-haired man grinned, and stood up and revealed a hand from his cloak, static bolts emanating from his palm.

"I admire your bravery, boy"

The red-haired wizard with a swish of his hand sent the bolts on the boy.

The boy fell to the floor with a dull sound, barely conscious.

"I like you," the wizard commended, "I look forward to fighting you, when you truly are the best knight of Prontera..."

The heavy lids of the boy fell, and the boy drifted to unconsciousness.

_::end flashback::_

The unlikely pair sat staring at the fire, the priestess began fingering the leaves of the little plant that had grown to knee height within the last minute.

She flashed her eyes towards the assassin, her brow furrowed in curiosity.

"umm... how do you come to know so much about.. the Kaonishi?" she asked timidly.

His pause was eerily revealing, and the priestess was hit with a realization, that she wish she hadn't asked.

"because," he replied in his monotonous voice.

"_I was one of them."_

**Author's Note:** I like this chapter a lot, but I think I still could have done better... Thank you for your support! Please Review.. it keeps me writing.


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